Modern Mining January 2018

DIAMONDS

2017, the vertical shafts were both down about 600 m from surface and on course to reach their full depth in 2019 while approximately 2 600 m of the decline system had been completed. As has been widely reported, the US$2 bil- lion VUP ranks as the biggest ever investment made by De Beers in South Africa and it cer- tainly ranks as one of the biggest mining projects currently in execution anywhere in the world. Approved in 2012 with construction starting in 2013, the VUP is running on sched- ule. It will be the primary source of Venetia’s ore supply by the end of 2023 and by 2026 will have ramped up to steady-state ore production of 5,9 Mt/a. On present planning, the under- ground mine will have a life through to 2045 although there is scope to extend this as the K01 ore body continues at depth. As Nortje explains, the VUP is essentially a life extension project for Venetia rather than an expansion. “The current open-pit operation is producing just over 5,1 Mt/a, which trans- lates into around 4,5 million carats (Mct) of diamonds a year,” he says. “This represents approximately 30 % of South Africa’s annual diamond production and 3 % of world produc- tion. Once the VUP is commissioned and in steady state, Venetia will continue to produce 4,5 Mct/a despite the higher ore production

the underground mine will deliver. This might seem puzzling – at least to the layman – but it reflects the greater ore dilution associated with underground caving operations.” He adds that there is a “significant oppor- tunity” for the VUP to produce at a higher rate than currently planned. “The K01 and K02 kimberlite pipes are each capable of support- ing a mining rate of 4 Mt/a and we have sized much of the infrastructure of the VUP with this in mind,” he notes. “So the option is avail- able to increase production at some time in the future although this would require a plant expansion.” On the subject of automation, Kühn says that the Venetia underground mine will undoubt- edly be a pacesetter. “We have decided to go for autonomous loading, hauling and long-hole

Above: The headgears of the VUP. The project includes the sinking of two vertical shafts to a depth in excess of 1 000 m. Left: View of the Venetia mine from the open-pit area showing the VUP headgears in the distance.

Top projects

January 2018  MODERN MINING  49